The Brothers who lived
by Superboy19
Summary: Nathan and Harry Potter, brothers and last surviving members of the Potter family, but both vastly different and seeking different things from life, but both bound to the same destiny, both destined to face the Dark Lord that claimed the life of their parents.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the masterpiece that is Harry Potter, no matter how much I want it to be, it will always belong to JK Rowling.**

Nathan Albus Potter and Harry James Potter, the two sons that survived the attack of the Dark Lord, Voldemort, and marked with scars. The one that was left on the forehead of Harry was shaped like a lightning bolt, while Nathan was marked with an S shaped scar in the same place as his brothers. They were both marked as boys who survived the killing curse and killed he who must not be named.

Nathan was born months apart from his brother, so they might've been in the same year at school, but they are vastly different from one another.

Raised by the combination of Remus and Sirius, the latter being their Godfather and the former being an uncle figure.

They were both taught skills that far surpassed their age, magic that put them above most people their own age because their godfather and uncle wanted them to be able to defend themselves against anyone that might seek to harm them.

In the interest in protecting them they were also given some rules, mostly from Remus, but there was one rule that Sirius gave them, but that was the one rule that Nathan broke, which changed him and was the source of the vast difference between the two of the brothers. His conversations with the painting of Walburga Black, who taught him the value of having wizard blood. It made him arrogant in his own abilities and because they were extensive he changed over time. In school this change resulted into him become somewhat like Draco, not in the snivelling brat part, his arrogance maybe, but more supported by skill that he actually had rather than throwing around his father's name, but he did have a gang of sorts. By the third year it consisted of Ron Weasley, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas.

Harry however kept friends rather than muscle, Neville Longbottom, their godbrother, and Hermione Granger, the latter begin a girl he and Neville sat with the first time they rode the train to Hogwarts and grew close to during their first year, despite all of the stress of dealing with the philosopher's stone and in the second year dealing with the Chamber of Secrets and a Basilisk.

Although the relationship they had at first was rocky due to her loaner type nature, a habit of burying her head in a book rather than socialising. However, over time, she became his best friend whom he could share just as much as he could share with Neville.

In the third year she began a romantic relationship with Neville, although it took some time for Neville to ask her. Nothing especially interesting happened that year in addition to the two of his closest friends' relationship, there was no massive crisis like the previous years, which meant for once he could focus on school.

It was the start of their fourth year, when they arrived at the castle they filled out of the multiple doors that lined the side of the train. They were mixed ages, aside from the first years who were gathered at one end of the station so that they could be taken separately.

The other students were on the way to the castle when they saw two amazing sights. One was a ship, one which had a strange skeletal look about it and was similar in design to a 16th century Spanish Galleon. One of the sails had a large depiction of an eagle and a dragon-like figurehead. "Whoa!" was the general reaction to the ship as students watched it in awe.

The second sight that was impressive to see came not a minute after. They were gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriages, the size of a large house, that soared through the air, pulled through it by a dozen winged horses, which Hermione helpfully added was a species known as Abraxan.

xXxXxXx

Every student, aside from the first years, were gathered in the Great Hall. They were all waiting for the sorting ceremony to begin, there was lots of clapping and cheers when it did begin, the new students welcomed into the different houses as the hat chose their path based on what it had seen within them, much like the hat had done with his year and every other that had come to the school.

"How old is that hat?" Harry asked in a hushed tone, not wanting to disrupt the ceremony as it came near to its end.

"The sorting hat is as old as this school, Harry" Hermione informed him.

"Hard to think that it's even older than Dumbledore." He joked, Neville gave a snort and Hermione smiled. "Do you know who those new arrivals are?" he then asked he, she gave no verbal answer this time, instead she just shook her head. "Well it definitely wasn't something you see every day."

"Well now we're all settled, and all new students have been sorted into their houses, I'd like to make an announcement." Dumbledore rose from his seat and moved to the podium from where he could give the rest of his speech. "This castle will not only be your home this your, but home to some very special guests as well. You see, Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event, the Triwizard Tournament." He gave his speech and murmurs filled the rows of tables. "For those of you who do not know, the Triwizard Tournament, brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. And from each school, a single student is selected to compete. Now let me be clear, if you are chosen, you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint-hearted." The last part was said as a warning to any, his voice in a much calmer tone.

"But more of that later." His tone became cheerier. "For now, please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic" the doors opened and girls, each dressed in pale blue robes made from what looked like fine silk. "and their headmistress, Madame Maxime."

They began what looked like a well-rehearsed performance, causing almost every guy in the room to leer at them. The group dance, although brief was followed by three of their members, one was a girl younger than the others, another was a particularly beautiful woman that seemed to attract the attention of every boy, it was as if she had some kind of entrancing aura that made them lust after her to the point they could barely hold themselves together, it was strange, because unlike them he didn't feel the same, although he did think she was very attractive, from the looks of things his brother was fairing the same. Madame Maxine was the other, she walked with the same pace as the half giant made her way to the other end of the room to stand with her school.

The clapping that came from the boys, as well as the cheering and whistling as loud as it could become, but the female members of the student body were less than enthusiastic.

Dumbledore then took up his position again to speak again, but he waited a few moments to see if the noise would subside. He quieted the room by holding up his hands. "And now our friends from the north. Please greet the proud sons of Drumstrang and their high master, Igor Karkaroff." While he spoke the ladies from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic

The next demonstration was more forceful and violent. They held staves that they hit the ground with a rhythmic beat. When one of the staves hit the ground, it created sparks and when they moved it quickly the staff left a trail.

Each one of them place the staff they were holding on the ground when they had made it a fraction of the way through the door. Then they accelerated, running to the other side of the hall, performing some acrobatic feats while they took their positions.

Igor Karkaroff and Krum entered. "Oh, it's Krum!" several people reacted, the mouth breathing idiot Ron was one of them. The two of them did nothing but walk with a rather fast pace to the other side of the room while the boy at the centre of the group already there created a snake of flame that span around them and transformed into a bird.

"Albus" Karkaroff and Dumbledore greeted one another with a hug.

"Igor" Dumbledore said as he returned the hug. They appeared to be friends, but Igor was giving Harry a bad feeling.

xXxXxXx

"Professor Dumbly-dorr, my horses have travelled a long way. They will need attending to." Madame Maxime spoke as she sat beside the headmaster with her thick French accent, she was much taller than every except for Hagrid, who was equally tall… actually, she was a little bit taller.

"Don't worry Madame Maxime" Dumbledore reassured her. "Our gamekeeper, Hagrid, is more than capable of seeing to them." She and Hagrid made eye contact past the professor's, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Crouch.

"But you know, Monsieur Hagrid, they drink only single malt whiskey." She said, Hagrid stabbed a teacher's hand as he missed his plate with his fork.

Harry couldn't help but snigger when he saw the sight of Hagrid and he pointed to the sight, so that Neville and Hermione could see what he was laughing at. "Someone's in love" Hermione commented. "Or at least smitten."

"To be fair they are at least a similar height, would make everything easier" Harry added.

"You know Harry. There are a lot of girls that would date you, why don't you try and find a girlfriend?" Neville asked. Harry had been drinking at the time, so he almost choked. Harry coughed as he tried to clear his throat.

"I-I don't want one. It's cool that you guys make a happy couple and all, but I don't want to be part of a couple" he then had a slight smile as he drunk from his goblet. "I'm fine just having fun." Neville didn't catch onto his meaning, but it was obvious for Hermione and her interest and unfathomable curiosity were peaked, she suddenly wanted to know to what he was referring.

They continued to eat when the mouth of Ron began to drool, along with the guys that were on the other side of the table from Harry, even Neville for a brief moment before he turned to fix his gaze on his girlfriend.

"Excuse me, please may I have that?" a beautiful girl, the one that was the centre piece of their performance, she had a French accent like any of the students from her school, and with her so close he couldn't help but feel attracted to her. She was breath takingly beautiful, there wasn't a single imperfection on her, her long silvery-blonde hair was tied into a single ponytail.

"Sure" he handed her the bowl of food that she was pointing to without looking at her for too long, he was tempted, but it wasn't right to stare at her for no reason. His brother on the other hand was clearly fine with it, because even he looked as though he was going to drool while he looked at her.

"Merci" she thanked, although she was interested as to why he barely looked at her.

xXxXxXx

The meal was almost finished when they brought out some strange object, taller than any person… okay maybe not Hagrid, but taller than any human. Everyone stopped and paid attention to the object as the four men that carried it inside left.

"Your attention please!" Dumbledore called out as he moved to stand beside it. "I'd like to say a few words." He placed a hand on the object. "Eternal glory. That is what awaits the student who wins the Triwizard Tournament. But to do this, that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks."

"Wicked" the twins commented at these words.

"For this reason, the ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this, we have the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation Mr. Bartemius Crouch." A man stepped forward, making his way around the table to get to the front when the ceiling was hit by what looked like a sudden storm in the corner, near to the side door.

Harry and Nathan both stood up and fired a stream of coiling red energy into the ceiling, but they weren't the only ones, another man who had come through the door did the same. "Who's he?" Nathan asked his brother. They were both standing up and having calmed the ceiling down they were both looking at the strange man. The students were shocked that they had helped, and everyone was looking between the three people that had quelled the anger of the ceiling.

"No idea, but he's giving me the chills" Harry replied. Nathan gave a grunt that agreed with him.

"Hey Ron, who is that?" Nathan asked, noting the sudden expression change of his muscle.

"Mad-Eye Moody" Ron agreed.

"Alastor Moody? The Auror?" Hermione asked, he gave a nod to her that was neither friendly nor hurtful.

"Auror?" Dean asked.

"A Dark-wizard catcher. Half the cells in Azkaban are filled thanks to him" Ron added. "He's supposed to be mad as a hatter though, these days." The man entered the room, using his staff to make his way to the headmaster.

"Nathan, Harry, you may sit down, thank you for your help." Dumbledore thanked them both and they did as they were instructed by their teacher, Nathan a little more slowly than Harry, he had a good view of the blonde girl from France where he was standing.

"My dear old friend, thank you for coming" the two teachers shook hands.

"Stupid ceiling." He said as they gave each other a quick hug, then he went to the side of the room, near to the teachers, but also far enough removed to distance himself from them.

Then the ministry dude coughed to gain the attention of everyone. "After due consideration the ministry has concluded that, for their own safety, no student under the age of 17 shall be allowed to put forth their name for the Triwizard Tournament." Eruptions of yells rang out in anger. "This decision is final!" he tried to speak over the yells of rejection.

"Silence!" Dumbledore's voice silenced the room. He then flicked his wand to the top of the object and slowly moved it down. The golden cover fading, revealing a goblet that was underneath it, not nearly as high as before, and in the goblet a blue flame was lit, with no aid from anyone. The room was bathed slightly in its light.

"The Goblet of Fire. Anyone wishing to submit themselves to the tournament need only write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly. If chosen, there's no turning back." He let the words sink in for a moment. "As from this moment, the Triwizard Tournament has begun."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

A day had passed since the new students had moved into school, Harry had no idea what they did during the day, they were few in number, so they were probably being taught mostly by their own teachers and because they were all, except for the one young girl, seventeen, so they were also content with self-studies as well no doubt, but he had to admit he was curious to know whether he was right or not.

He was in his new defence against the dark arts lesson with his new teacher. "Alastor Moody" the teacher wrote his name quickly and in scruffy handwriting that was barely legible on the chalk board. "Ex-Auror, ministry malcontent and your new defence against the dark arts teacher" he said as part of his introduction. "I am here because Dumbledore asked me. End of story, goodbye, the end" he paced forward from the board so that he was atop the steps. "Any questions?"

His odd eye looked everywhere, it was no doubt magical, the silence was threatening, no one wanted to speak to him considering that everyone knew of his exploits. "When it comes to the dark arts I believe in a practical approach." He continued. "But first, which of you can tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are?"

"Three, obviously" Nathan answered in a way that suggested that the answer should be obvious to anyone asking the question.

Moody glared at the obviously arrogant kid. "And they are so named?" he asked, with underlying hatred for the boy.

"Obviously, it is because they're seen us unforgivable, the use of them will earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban." Nathan answered. "But the ministry thinks that we're too young to even see what these curses do so we have no idea what to expect when they do happen. Pathetic really."

"They're seen as too cruel, that's why they don't want us to see." Harry argued. Moody eyed the two brothers; their opinions were clearly very different.

"Too cruel?" Nathan scoffed. "The world is cruel little brother, you need to expect to see cruel things, whether they happen or not you need to prepare, after everything we've experienced over the years you should know that better than anyone." The two brothers glared at them, their eyes conflicting, everyone knowing that they were rivals in many respects. "We need to know what we are up against."

"I agree." Moody interrupted. Everyone snapping to look at him. "You need to be prepared. So, which curse shall we see first?" he asked. He waited for less than a second. "Weasley!" Ron sprung from his seat beside Nathan, earning a grin from his so-called friend.

"Yes?" Ron looked terrified.

"Give us a curse" he all but whispered to the terrified ginger.

"Well, my dad did tell me about one. The Imperius Curse" he suggested, speaking slowly and with clear hesitation as he thought about his answer before giving it.

"Oh yeah, your father would know all about that." Moody remarked as he wrote the name of the curse on the chalkboard "Gave the ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why."

He walked over to a table where he removed a glass case from something, taking from inside an interesting creature that looked much like a spider. "Lovely little beauty" he said as he looked at the creature more closely. The class didn't agree with him at all, when they saw what it was they all shared confused glances, they thought that it looked horrible. "Engorgio" he made the insect larger, so that it was larger than his hand. "Imperio!" he used his wand and moved it through the air onto Dean's desk, then moved it, while everyone watched it, fly onto Crabbe's face.

He kept moving it around the room, while the students kept laughing at whoever it happened to land on. "Don't worry. It's completely harmless" he laughed as he moved it around. He seemed to take pleasure from every scared reaction of the students.

"If she bites… she's lethal!" he laughed as he dropped the creature on to Ron. Draco's laugh became much louder, so he moved it to him next. "What are you laughing at?" he laughed as he did.

"G-Get it off! Get it off!" he panicked, Goyle began trying to knock it off his face without hitting Draco, but he couldn't seem to knock it off. "Talented, isn't she? What should I have her do next?" he moved the creature to the window. "Jump out the window?" his tone declined from its cheery one, becoming more serious as the class slowly stopped laughing. "Drown herself?" he hung the creature over a jar of water that was absent its lid. "Burn herself?" then moving her to a hovering position above a candle. The creature's legs moved frantically in both situations, trying to escape the water or flames, the cruel fate that she was being forced into.

In silence he moved it back to his hand. "Many witches and wizards have claimed that they only did You-Know-Who's bidding under the influence of the Imperius Curse. But there was a problem with it, can anyone tell me what?"

Hermione raised her hand. "There was no way to tell who was lying and who was genuinely effected by the curse."

"Correct." He then waited before asking for another curse. He ended up picking Neville who was reluctant to mention the Crucisatus Curse. Moody had no problem with using the curse on the creature, Neville forced to stand and watched as it twisted in pain. "Particularly nasty. The torture curse. Crucio!" he repeated the curse and a wave of pain passed over the creature again and gave it more pain. Neville's face was pushed to torment.

Hermione could see the pain on her boyfriend's face and couldn't contain herself. "Stop it! Can't you see its bothering him? Stop it!" But Moody seemed to be in some form of a trance, fixed on the power he held over the creature.

"Avada Kedavra!" Nathan cast the curse. The green light of the curse striking the creature much to the surprise of everyone. "The killing curse, the last of the three and survivable." He filled in the class.

"Ah, Nathan Potter." Moody looked at the boy, then to his brother. "Only two have ever been known to survive this curse" he paced to the desk of Harry and looked at them again. "Both of them are sitting in this room." Harry didn't shy away from the eye contact, his emerald eyes met Moody's head on, unwavering and the glare of his brother was no different.

xXxXxXx

" _Who is he?"_ Fleur asked one of her friends in French as they sat at the end of the Ravenclaw table, the students from her school all together. Her friend looked up from the table and over to the direction that Fleur was looking, a younger boy with black hair, talking to one of his friends, looking through a gap between two people they couldn't make out all of his face, but his emerald eyes were apparent, clear.

" _I am not sure, we could ask someone?"_ She suggested, smiling slightly. _"Why do you want to know?"_ she asked with genuine curiosity. Fleur never asked about anyone, but from the way she was looking at the boy she was quite intrigued.

" _Nothing, I was just wondering"_ her friend could see that there was something more to it, so she gave Fleur a look that conveyed that sentiment. _"Fine…"_ she gave a sigh, caving to the look her friend was giving her. _"It is because he has never once stared at me… he is somehow different, I think he is immune to my Allure."_

" _Really?"_ her friend made a doubletake of the boy. _"Okay, now I'm curious as well"_ she and Fleur resumed eating, but they gave the idea of finding out who he was some thought.

After the meal Fleur became nervous, she and the others that wanted to enter the tournament went to the cup together, all of them entering, and she was immediately subject to the stares of the male students, every one of them like they were drooling, she didn't meet any of their gazes, not wanting to encourage any of them to pursue some kind of lustful action.

One by one they placed the paper with their names on into the cup, the paper being absorbed by the blue flame, it accepted each one of them. When it came to her turn she hesitated slightly, but the words of her headmistress echoed, and she dropped the blue, delicate, piece of paper into the flame. Letting out a sigh as she watched it disappear.

As she was leaving she caught the sight of the familiar boy with untamed hair, she couldn't help a small smile on the end of her lips as she recognised that he was the only one not staring at her with hungry eyes, instead he was content on reading a book.

xXxXxXx

Fleur was nervous, she needed to be the one selected for her school. She wanted it to improve the other members of her school views on her, but a lot of people had entered so she feared that she wouldn't be the one. She noticed that everyone who had entered was nervous, other than that everyone else seemed excited to find out who would be competing. Most people had taken their seats when the doors opened, and the final stragglers entered, which included the boy she had taken an interest in and someone that looked a lot like him beside him, maybe a brother.

"Harry!" a brunette called out to him, she was sitting with a boy who was holding a herbology book in his hands, reading it intently. The black-haired boy heard her voice and came over to her, they were obviously friends from the smiles the three shared, the other boy joined a ginger boy who had been staring at her since she entered, he was freaking her out, thankfully the new boy hit him in the arm and made him look away.

 _So, his name is Harry?_ She thought as he watched. Then Dumbledore stood, holding out his hand to retrieve silence from the room. "Now the moment you've all be waiting for." He started, everyone hurriedly calmed down and all watched him, except Fleur, who couldn't explain why she was glued to the younger boy she had just learned the name of. "The Champion selection" her fixed gaze was moved to the teacher as she was hit with a wave of pressure and nerves when he moved his hand to quell the lights, turning them down until they were no larger than the flickering light of a candle.

He walked around the cup, touching it carefully before moving to the side, eyes had moved from him to the cup and the blue flame that burned brightly enough to bathe the room in its light. The flame then transformed, becoming a red colour and spitting out a piece of paper with burned edges. "The Durmstrang champion is… Viktor Krum!" he announced, the cheers of the school that the champion belonged to exploded, they all got up and congratulated Krum.

He came from his seat and shook Dumbledore's hand. Then he was ushered into a different room.

It was her schools turn next, her nerves smelling to their max. The flame, which had returned to blue, changed to red and spat out another piece of paper, this time blue and more ornate looking, barely touched by the flames. "The champion of Beauxbatons… is Fleur Delacour!" he announced, Fleur was happy, but at the same time incredibly nervous. Her classmates all began clapping, as she got up and went to Dumbledore. She gave a smile, but she was truthfully only hiding what she was feeling.

She was guided into a much smaller room where Krum was waiting, he looked at her but neither of them spoke, he averted his eyes quickly. His expression hadn't changed much since his arrival from what she had seen, aside from his slight smile when he had been called out as the champion. The room was filled with many cases, each filled with varying trophies for many things, the room lit by dim torches along the wall, almost as small as Dumbledore had made the others in the room they had been selected in, but extra light also came from a warm fire.

The door soon opened, Cedric Digory entered. "Hey" he greeted the other two as he entered. He offered his hand which Fleur took, introducing herself and he then did the same with Krum.

They waited for another few minutes for the professors to arrive, as they did Fleur looked around at the trophy cases, while Krum remained by the fireplace. Cedric watched the door, probably nervous just as she was.

She found herself in front of a case where she noticed the name Harry Potter along with several others, etched into gold that belonged to the Quidditch cup. _Is this him?_ She thought, she hadn't notice the scar that Harry Potter was supposed to possess, but it was possible that it had been covered from her sight.

The door creaked open and the boy in question stepped inside. "Do zey want us back in ze hall?" she asked, doing her best to sound like a champion should, but he gave no answer, he instead leaned against a wall. She couldn't help a small frown as he ignored her, anyone else would have answered.

Cedric then stepped forward. "Harry, what is it?" he asked, he didn't speak as she had, he spoke to him more like an equal. Then the door burst open.

"You're about to find out" the boy said.

"Extraordinary" Bagman muttered as he raced to Harry. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen… lady" he added approaching the fireside where the others had become gathered, pulling Harry with him. "May I introduce, as incredible as it may seem, the fourth Triwizard champion!" he announced to them.

Krum straightened immediately, the surprise evident on his expression along with his disbelief. Cedric's head swivelled between Harry, his shock displayed on his wide-eyed expression. Fleur couldn't believe him either, maybe it was a joke, after all how could they expect a fourteen-year-old boy to compete and endanger his life. It had to be a joke.

"Oh, very funny joke, Meester Bagman."

"Joke?" Bagman replied to her commented. "This is no joke. No, no, no, not at all! Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire!" he informed, his elated manner never calming down as he spoke.

How could it be happening? She looked at the boy who seemed so fragile, so weak, how could he be expected to compete in a tournament that would most likely kill him. He was too young. "But evidently zair 'as been a mistake," she said while keeping her eyes pinned on Harry. "'E cannot compete. 'E is only a little boy."

The boy's face then suddenly changed, passing from slightly afraid to a defiant glare that made her instantly regret her words. It was clear that she had hurt him. It was clear through the emerald eyes which now had a fire behind them as he glared at her sky-blue eyes.

The idea that he had cheated to enter made her feel like she had been betrayed, as a result she had lost her temper and now she felt as though she was the one who had betrayed him. But why did she feel that way when she had only learned his name minutes before?

"Well… it is amazing!" Bagman continued. Each of their heads snapped back to the door as it opened. From it poured all of the professors that were the heads of their schools, along with McGonagall, Snape and Moody.

"I protest!" a voice came as they made their way over. Dumbledore grabbed Harry.

"Harry" he said as he grabbed two handfuls of his clothes and pushed him into one of the cases as he looked at him forcefully. "Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire?" he asked, he wasn't asking very kindly, almost like he was ready to force the answer from him.

Madame Maxime kept saying that she protested until she had caught up to Dumbledore, along with the others. "No sir" Harry rejected the idea, strangely there wasn't as much fear in him as one would expect from being questioned by a headmaster for something as serious as the current problem.

"Did you ask one of the older students to do it for you?" Dumbledore continued to push.

"No sir!" he then pushed Dumbledore off of him, mush to the surprise of everyone. "And I don't get why you think I would. Apparently, I'm just a little boy." he shot Fleur a stare that could kill. "I thought that this was going to be the year I finally did have to fight something that was trying to kill me, why the fuck would I want to do this stupid tournament that means absolutely nothing."

"But of course 'e is lying" Madame Maxime protested.

"The hell he is!" Moody entered the conversation. "The Goblet of Fire is an exceptionally powerful magical object. Only an exceptionally powerful Confundus Charm could've hoodwinked it. Magic that lies way beyond the talent of a fourth year." He argued on Harry's behalf, placing himself between Harry and the other teachers.

"You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought, Mad-Eye" Karkaroff entered the conversation, seemingly picking a fight with Mad-Eye. He practically spat the name of the man he was talking to.

"It was once my job to think as wizards do, Karkaroff. Perhaps you remember."

"This doesn't help, Alastor." Dumbledore cut through them to end the argument. They all then looked to Crouch to make the decision. "Leave this to you, Barty."

"The rules are absolute. The Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract. Mr Potter has no choice. He is, as of tonight, a Triwizard champion. Everyone, teachers and champions looked to Harry, but he gave a scoff and left.

* * *

 **Harry/Fleur**

 **Harry/Harem**

 **I am undecided between these two options. I want to have Fleur no matter what, she and Harry are my favourite pairing in the franchise, so that is no negotiable, but I would be open to the harem idea as I find it interesting. I have a plan for both options. I will be asking my IRL friends to tell me what they think in addition to the reviews on this… if I get any.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **Author's Note: Now I know this is longer, but I really wanted to get ahead, getting to the more exciting part, and I had some free time to add more to this chapter. I do like the length though so I might start making this the standard length for my chapters… I am yet undecided.**

Nathan was sitting in his potions class, Ron beside him, Harry absent as he headed to some Daily Prophet photoshoot. "Doesn't it make you mad that he snuck his name into the goblet?" Ron asked with a low voice, trying to avoid being caught out by Snape, the teacher was sitting at his desk as they worked in silence, but they all knew that he had keen hearing, at least when it came to every house but his own.

"I couldn't care less. Unless I was his opponent that is." He then smiled as he finished a paragraph in his essay. "I'm more focused on that French girl that everyone seems so focused on, wouldn't mind trying to get closer to her if you know what I mean" he smiled cheekily.

Ron gave a heavy sigh. "I know she's hot mate but… are you mad?" he couldn't help his volume rising slightly. They paused their conversation while they waited for Snape to lower his head and get back to work.

"I might be, but still. She's the hottest girl I've ever seen. It would be… fun to see what it would take to get her." He continued with his smile, Ron still looked at him in disbelief. "Might take some effort though, she doesn't seem to pay anyone any attention."

"If by that you mean she's snobby then you'd be right." Ron replied with a grin.

"Doesn't stop you from drooling whenever she is in the same room as you" he teased, Ron punched him in reply earning a slightly cruel looking smile. They opted to do more work, staying silent for a time before talking again. It would've been bad if they did nothing but talk, Snape is a dick of a teacher even when you do as he asked.

When they had waited around twenty minutes Ron asked. "What is your plan to get with her exactly?"

"I don't have one yet. First… I'll try talking to her, find out a little more about her." He replied, it was obvious that he hadn't gave the subject much thought from his nonchalant way of approaching things.

"That isn't going to go well. Besides, don't you already have a girlfriend?" Ron asked a little confused.

Nathan gave him a look that indicated he had no idea what he was talking about, he kept the look for a moment before giving a light chuckle. "I don't want a girl friend Ron." He said, Ron wasn't sure what he was talking about, "I just want to have some fun." He then added, giving Ron an idea of what he was talking about.

When the class was over they gathered their things and went to their next class. The day was boring, nothing much to do. After they decided that they would practice on their brooms. It was true that the Quidditch that year was not happening, but Nathan had a similar love for flying as his brother, so he got his broom from his room, as did Ron, and they went to the field to practice… or play, depending on how you looked at it.

xXxXxXx

Krum and Fleur had already arrived; and were waiting for the Hogwarts champions to arrive for their interviews. They had been told that they had too pose for several group shots and other photos, then would each be giving an interview. They were both dressed in their full uniform, Krum even wearing the coat that many of his classmates didn't wear typically during the school day.

They were inside the trophy room that they had been gathered in before, but the light of day illuminated the room much more clearly than the night before. The door that had been shut, was also open, letting in even more light. There was a single chair placed in the most open area. Fleur was guided to sit at it, Krum told that when the pictures were taken that he should stand with his hand on the chair.

Cedric was the next to arrive. "Ah, Mr Digory I presume?" the blonde reporter said as she saw him enter. "Now we're only waiting on young Mr Potter."

Cedric stood awkwardly, not sure what he was meant to do. Then Harry entered, the sound of his footsteps apparent as he made his way down the steps of the entrance. "Good" the reporter smiled, giving Harry a bad feeling.

She immediately started to arrange them. At first, she put Harry on the opposite end from Krum, mumbling about contrast, but then she changed her mind. Cedric was behind the chair but slightly off centre, having both hands in front of him and on the top left corner of the chair's back (if you were looking at it from Rita's perspective). Krum was standing at arms-length from the chair, his hand on the other top corner of the back. Fleur sat prettily with her legs crossed and hand resting delicately on her legs. When she had arranged the other three she placed Harry between the two larger and older boys, telling him to stand up straight, with his arms folded.

In comparison to the others he was shorter (not as much as he would be in the main series); but considering the two-year age difference he didn't look nearly as bad as Rita had originally thought he would.

"I think this will be our front page shot." She mumbled before a bright light flashed and their picture had been taken.

That was only the first of the many shots that she took, she took group photos as well as photos of them on their own, it was almost like she was trying to take enough of them to fill an entire album of photos.

By the time she was done they were exhausted, but they still had the worst part to come, the interviews. "So, who's feeling up to sharing?" Rita asked as she looked at each of them. She was already aware of who she was most looking forward to interviewing, but she wanted to see if any of them would volunteer.

"Shall we start with the youngest?" she grabbed Harry, she wasn't asking a question that she wanted an answer to, she was more telling them that that was how she was going to start. "Lovely" she tried to pull Harry, but he barely moved.

"I'm good" he told her. "You can just put down no comment for any questions you have considering I'm under age and all that. I doubt you be looked at well, even with your… reputation, for interviewing a minor without a guardian present or even that _little boy's_ permission" he said the words that he copied from Fleur harshly, glancing at the French girl as he did. He didn't know why but it had hurt him a lot when she had said that.

He broke the woman's grip on him and walked to the door, leaving without giving her a second look. She didn't look happy with the outcome at all, but it did look like a fire had been lit behind her eyes.

xXxXxXx

He drove her mad, more than anyone else and she had no earthly idea as to why. Fleur didn't usually care about much, but he could drive her insane. She had felt guilty enough after his reaction to calling Harry a little boy the first time and when he repeated the comment during the pictures she felt her heart drop. Why though?

She decided that she wanted to find out more about him, the best way to do that was to ask someone, but any guy that she's approach would be unable to talk to her seriously thanks to her allure.

 _"_ _Clarissa?"_ she gained her friends attention. _"How do you think I could find out more of this, Harry Potter?"_ She asked her friend. Her friend gave her a look that was accompanied by a knowing smile that suggested she knew her true intent, even though she herself had no idea what they were.

"We could always ask Cedric, I'm sure he'll know something" she suggested, an idea which Fleur accepted, so they went to find the Hufflepuff in question.

They found him in the library not long after. "Cedric?" Fleur sat down opposite him and he looked up, she could see the strain as he turned to avert his eyes. _Looks like only he is immune_ she thought quietly.

"Fleur? What do you need?" he asked, still looking away from her, but not enough to be rude.

"'Arry Potter?" she asked simply, he understood what she was asking for despite the lack of words used to do so.

"Well, he might be fourteen, but you shouldn't underestimate him" he said honestly, she raised an eyebrow, so he continued to explain. "His first year at the school he made his way to the philosopher's stone, made it past security measure made by the teachers and somehow got past them all." She looked a little surprised, but mostly she couldn't believe it.

"'ow, 'e would've been eleven?" she questioned.

"Not sure, but that's not all. In his second year everyone was blaming him and his brother for these attacks, but it turns out that there was a basilisk that was going around the school, he stopped it. No idea how. I've read about them before, considering how old it must have been the thing would've been massive, I don't know how anyone could've beaten it even with magic." He continued, she continued to look at him in disbelief, refusing to accept that someone as small as him would be able to defeat such a creature.

"Why did everyone blame 'im?"

"He could talk to snakes, a Parseltongue, but everyone thought he was the heir to Slytherin, thought he was the one controlling the Basilisk and opened the chamber."

"Chamber?"

"The Chamber of Secrets I think it was called. A secret chamber built by Salazar Slytherin and can only be opened by a Parseltongue. Not sure who it was, but considering Harry killed it I doubt he was the heir."

"Do zhey know 'ow?"

"They might, but no student does. At least not one that isn't close to Harry." He theorised. "Most of what I'm saying is me guessing from the limited information I do have, not exactly like the professors told us all of the details when it came down to it. They tend to generalise everything, but every year it seems that the Potters have to face some life-threatening danger that should be left to the headmaster." He then thought about what Harry had said when the teachers had confronted him in the trophy room. "That might be why he said thought this was going to be the year he finally didn't have to fight something that was trying to kill him."

"Every year? Why doesn't somebody stop zese things from appening?" she wondered why Albus Dumbledore would let such things continued when he was widely known as the one person that You-Know-Who was afraid of. It was even worse, if it was all true, that he would leave it up to such a young student to deal with.

If that was happening at her school the very least that would happen would be for the teachers to take charge, possibly send them home until the threat was dealt with. It was maddening to think that it was true, but that might explain why he was so mad at her for calling him a little boy, and if that was the case then it only made her feel worse.

xXxXxXx

It was time for the wand ceremony. The four champions had been taken to a room were their wands would be checked to see if they were in the proper condition for the tournament. Krum was up first. His wand was taken by a man named Garrick Ollivander, who was able to pick apart the wand just by touching it, telling everything there was to know about it in what seemed like an instant.

"Seems to be in fine working order" he said as he cast several red sparks from the wand, that danced around a desk and left minor scorch marks on the wooden surface. He passed the wand back to Krum who gave a slight head nod and moved to the side.

The next person to step up was Cedric, he went through the same thing, the wand was checked for any problems that might occur, but nothing was found wrong with it. "A fine wand Mr Diggory" she heard him say before casting a simple spell to make a book float to his hand.

Cedric took the wand and moved next to Krum while she stepped up to have hers checked. He took the wand and looked at it. "Hmmm… nine and a half inches, inflexible… rosewood and the core is… dear me…"

"An 'air from ze 'ead of a Veela. One of my grandmuzzer's" Fleur answered, although he was already aware no doubt.

He then used the wand to create flowers. "I don't use Veela hair as I believe it to be too temperamental, but if that is what you use then that is fine. It seems to be in perfect working order" he then handed the wand back to her. She pocketed it and stepped aside.

Harry then gave his wand and it was checked. She watched as Ollivander held out the wand and from the tip golden light stream from it, striking the tip of a candle and causing it to burn. "Perfect" the wandmaker noted.

The ceremony passed with no problems or massive events, that was until Rita Skeeter entered. "Mister Potter. Time for your interview" she demanded. His expression dropped, he clearly didn't want to have an interview, but he didn't look like he wanted to argue either.

"'E clearly doesn't want to do ze interview, please let 'im be" she stood between the reporter and the younger student, which earned the attention of everyone in the room. It was clear that she wasn't moving from the forceful gaze that she had, an unwavering stare.

Harry was slightly impressed. He was also confused, but he decided to ignore that. "I'll do it" which shocked everyone. "But, I have a condition."

"Yes?" Rita asked in intrigue. Harry walked up to her, passing Fleur and giving the French student a smile, making her blush slightly.

He leaned in close so that only she could hear him. "You have to print the truth. And if you don't I'll tell everyone about your ability to transform into a bug" she was stunned, and everyone could see it on her face. Whatever she had prepared herself for it clearly wasn't what he had said.

"Thanks for trying to help" Harry thanked Fleur before going to his interview.

They went to a small broom closet, Rita didn't say anything for a few minutes. "What are you talking about?" is what she asked after several minutes.

"The fact that you're an unregistered Animagus. You can turn into your beetle form and spy on anyone you want to, only problem would be if they found out."

"At most I'd have to pay a fine."

"True, but if everyone knew what you could do they would be more aware and those stories that you love to twist so much would be impossible to get. Oh, and of you want to ask how I know it ain't happening." He told her. For some reason she didn't feel like she was talking to a kid, he had clearly thought this out well, probably why he didn't talk to her before, he wasn't ready to confront her.

"What do you want?" she asked, dropping all facades.

"I want you to print the truth, you probably thought that you could use me to make some quick cash, but I want you to print the truth, no doubt you will still make the money, I just don't want to have the giant pain in the ass that your lies would make."

"That's all you want?"

"That goes for my friends too, I don't want them getting dragged up in all of this."

She considered her options, but she only really had one choice. "Fine" she huffed, obviously she wasn't happy about it and he doubted that this was the end of their discussion, the likelihood would be that she would constantly be looking for a way out of the deal, but for now he knew there wasn't one. "Now, let's start with the interview. How did you put your name in that cup?" she asked preparing to write.

"I didn't. I'm not sure how my name ended up in that cup, but it did and now I'm stuck with it. Besides if I had put my name in the cup then I would've been selected as Hogwarts Champion, considering that I was selected in addition it seems that someone else put it in there and rigged my entry as another school so that I would be picked."

"So you think this is some kind of setup?"

"Possibly, it wouldn't surprise me considering the shit that has happened during my three years here already."

"And what might that be?"

"Who knows" he gave a shrug, it was obvious that he did, but she chose to ignore it… for now at least.

xXxXxXx

Hagrid had told Harry, more like shown him, what he would be facing in the first challenge. Having been shown what he was going to be up against he needed a strategy. Dragons were one of the most powerful magical creatures and it would be incredibly difficult to fight them, especially if he ended up with the Horntail, which he suspected he would thanks to his horrible luck.

Hermione was busy, sure she would help him if he asked, but he wanted to try and do this without her. Nathan was the only other choice, even though he didn't like the idea of asking him for help.

"You have to fight a dragon. Sorry little bro but you're going to die" Nathan laughed. "Don't get me wrong you're kind of good with magic, but in comparison to-"

"We are the same level in magic" Harry said bluntly, his brother giving him a scowl in response. "You like to think you are better, but we both know if we were to fight all out there's no telling who would win." He kept his voice under control, giving no indication as to how he was feeling in that moment, he didn't want to show any sign of weakness around his brother.

Nathan gritted his teeth. They were in the Great Hall, he wanted nothing more than to prove he was better by starting that all out fight, but with the teachers and students around he couldn't do anything. "Why the hell would I help you? You cheated to get in and now you want me to help you? Seriously bro, if you were that jealous of me you didn't have to commit suicide to do it."

They were sitting apart from their normal group of friends, but the others were watching them, waiting to see if anything would happen. Ron, Seamus and Dean wanted something to happen, but Hermione and Neville didn't, they were just watching in case.

"I didn't cheat." Harry replied quickly. "Why would I want to put my name in that cup?"

"Jealousy."

"What the hell should I be jealous of you for?"

"What wouldn't you be jealous of?" Nathan laughed a little. He was always arrogant, it was one of the reason they never got on, he hadn't always been that way, but when he was around four he had started to change. Not enough to notice it at first, but later it became incredibly obvious to everyone that knew him.

"Your annoying attitude" Harry teased, he wanted to lighten the mood, but it didn't work, something he was clued into by the harsh look he was getting from his brother. "Alright, enough. Any ideas?" he tried to get back to the original subject.

"Tell me Harry, do you think that dragons and snakes could possibly share ancestry?" Harry thought about the question for a moment, it was true they had some similarities, but there were also massive difference. "You can command snakes, why should a dragon be any different? The only difference is that one has wings and the other doesn't."

"And they breath fire, have razor sharp claws and could crush me if they stepped on me, but sure… they're no different from snakes" he was clearly being sarcastic, but Nathan didn't seem to notice.

"Harry, if you lose I'm going to kill you myself. A Potter shouldn't lose to something as trivial as a dragon." He said, leaving a brief pause for his words to sink in. "And I expect you to wind whether you entered yourself or someone else did doesn't matter, you can't lose to Cedric, Krum or that half-Veela." He said the last part like it was a bad thing. Harry wanted to say something, but if he and his brother started arguing it would draw way too much attention to them. Attention that he could do without.

xXxXxXx

Sooner than he thought the cold morning of November 24th came about. Harry woke up well rested thanks to going to sleep early the night before. He had the morning free, preparation for the task ahead. It was the same for the others as well, but he had no idea what they were doing to prepare.

He ate breakfast, sat by the lake and read some more about dragons, then, after lunch he made his way to the tent for his dragon to be chosen.

Their dragons were all chosen. Fleur was the first to select her dragon, dipping her hand into a black sack and removing a model, living, of the beasts they would be fighting, she was lucky, well as lucky as she could be with a dragon at least, to have selected the Common Welsh Green. She was followed by Cedric who was given the Swedish Short-Snout after he pulled its smaller model from the sack, then Krum picked the Chinese Fireball, which left Harry with the last and most dangerous of the lot. "Figures" he sighed as he placed his hand in, ignoring the burning sensation he got from the fire that the small dragon breathed onto his hand.

As he removed his hand, there was a model of a dragon on his palm. The Hungarian Horntail. The most ruthless and fearsome of the lot. Fleur eyed the dragon in his hand and seemed to worry for him, but his eyes were too focus on the creature to notice.

The order they would face the dragons in would be: Cedric Diggory, followed by Fleur Delacour, then Viktor Krum and finally Harry Potter.

They were all wished luck and told to prepare before the members of staff left, Bagman pulling Harry aside before he followed the others. Bagman quickly returned and handed Harry a bag. "Good luck Mister Potter!" he said cheerily.

Cedric raised an eyebrow at the younger boy. "What? He asked if I needed any help."

"And?"

"I told him I had a plan, but I also said I was very hungry. Asked him to bring these." He opened the bag and placed it on the closest bed, which just so happened to be Fleur's. He took two chocolate frogs then turned to the other three. "I'm not really that hungry so you guys can have the rest."

"Why would you 'elp us?" Fleur asked.

"Huh? It's just some sweets, not like I'm fighting your dragon for you. Besides I find it's better to keep your mind off of the daunting task ahead, that way you don't worry as much." He smiled before going to his area of the tent.

 _How is he so calm?_ She thought as she watched him eat his chocolate frogs. It was like he was entirely without fear, similar to Krum, but Krum was just being quiet. It might be true that Harry wasn't as afraid as they were, if what Cedric had told her was true at least, but he… he was about to face a dragon, the nastiest kind there is, surely even if the stories were true he would be all the more afraid, knowing the severity of the situation.

Cedric gave a cheeky grin as he noticed Fleur. Ever since their discussion on Harry he had become curious as to why Fleur wanted to know so much, from casual glances he noticed that she spent a lot more time looking at Harry than someone who was just curious about him. He doubted that it was romantic, but you never knew, that could be exactly what it was.

"And the first champion to be tested in this test of daring and courage! Cedric Diggory!" Bagman announced from wherever he was outside. Cedric took a deep breath and left the tent.

"Good luck Cedric" Harry wished him well.

"You too Harry" Cedric replied as he closed the tent behind him and began his test.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Harry was waiting in the tent as Cedric fought against his dragon. They could hear a roar which they assumed was the dragon's way of greeting Cedric into whatever area he was supposed to face the dragon in.

Krum stood perfectly still, close to the door, with his eyes closed, almost looking like he was asleep despite being upright. Harry had noticed that about Krum. He barely showed any emotion and was always calm, at least on the surface. He had only seen him smile when his name was removed from the cup and he was named champion. Weird.

Fleur was obviously very on edge, she was sitting and she couldn't help her nervous expression that adorned her perfect features. She was sitting, not standing, one of her feet tapping gently but at a rather quick tempo. She was going to be the next one up so it stood to reason she would be the most nervous out of all of them.

He wondered what plans they had come up with. What they were going to use against their dragons.

xXxXxXx

Cedric wondered into the area he was meant to face the dragon, spotting it on the other side of the area, its silvery blue scales shining in the light. It took several steps forward, picking up pace as it readied to attack. "Stupefy!" he called out as the red light sprung from the tip of his wand and hit the dragon.

As he had expected it had no effect and seemed to run off of its scales like water. "Oh crap" he cursed as flame was fired at him. Narrowly he dodged the flames and ducked behind a rock.

The smell of smoke alerted him to the small flames that were burning his clothes, he patted them fiercely to stop the flames. "Well that didn't work" he monologued as he waited for the fire to stop, using the opportunity to fling himself behind another rock, unnoticed by the dragon which had reeled back for a moment to prepare another blast of flame.

Seeing a perfectly sized rock he had an idea. He aimed his wand and chanted something. A white light shot from his wand, a small ball of energy that moved almost too quickly for the eye to see at struck the rock.

The rock twisted, breaking apart and changing in form to become the shape of a dog. A small dog with black fur that immediately began to move around, attracting the attention of the Swedish Short-Snout.

While the dragon made its move for the dog he ran to the egg, seconds before having it in his hand. "ARGH!" he let out a cry of pain as he was hit by a cloud of flame that had been shot at him when the dragon had heard his footsteps.

Still, with what remained of his strength he stretched out one hand and grabbed the golden object. Then before the dragon could hit him a barrier was formed around him that the dragon clawed at, cast by Dumbledore. Dragon tamers then made their way into the arena and began subduing the beast so that it could cause no further harm, followed by medics that cast pain dulling charms on him and began to treat the burns as he was moved from the arena, the egg still firmly in his grasp.

"What a fine performance by Mr Diggory!" Bagman announced.

Dumbledore then stood, his wand pressed to his neck his voice bellowed, everyone able to hear "Due to his injury however, we will be withholding points until such a time that the champions can all be present to hear their standing." He informed.

There was a sigh of both disappointment but also understanding.

"Next to face the deadly beast! A Common Welsh Green! The champion from Beauxbatons! Fleur Delacour!" Bagman announced, cheers erupted, mostly from the students that also came from Beauxbatons, not all of them looked happy about it though, doing it for their school as opposed to the champion herself.

Fleur was inside her tent when she heard the announcement, she took a deep breath and stood up, her nerves reaching their peak. Krum watched as she moved to the exit of the tent. Her eyes met the familiar emerald colour and she stood in place. She had no doubt that the look on her face showed how nervous she was. She internally berated herself for allowing herself to show weakness to her rival champion.

"Good luck" he said softly, barely audible, but she managed to catch the words and the meaningful look he gave her. It made her feel calmer. The simple gesture calming her racing pulse and heartbeat. Allowing her to move to the task ahead.

She looked around at the many students that were gathered to watch, varying from the three schools, although most of them were from Hogwarts. She could see several banners, with the varying names of the champions. She looked around the stone area she was to face her dragon.

Walking out slowly she wanted to be cautious. Her dragon obviously didn't as it launched into the air, she noted that a chain pulled it back to the ground. The beast writhing as it tried to escape the chain, pulling against the metal, but it was too strong, enchanted not to break.

She raised her wand and began chanting her spell, one recently taught to her so that she could send the dragon to sleep while she took the egg. It was a powerful spell but being cast on a dragon that was also powerful delayed the speed at which the creature fell into sleep.

The roars of the beast rung for a few seconds, its stomping the same, but as time drew on it began to slow, moving sluggishly. Fleur continued to chant her spell, the dragon continued to slow down until it came to a stop, falling into a slumber.

She tentatively walked toward the egg, still being cautious, but as she past the beast she realised she was safe and relaxed, just then it snored and let out a quick breath of small flames that caught her skirt, lighting her skirt alight.

"Non" she gasped as she pulled her wand and aimed it at the flames. "Aquamenti!" she summoned flames to douse the flames. Giving a sigh when she looked at the burned fabric.

She then retrieved her egg.

" _Congratulations!"_ Clarissa jumped at her friend when she left the arena, giving her a warm hug. They were in a secreted area, behind the stands so there wasn't anyone around, other than the medical staff that were on standby.

"Mademoiselle Delacour, please follow me" Madam Pomfrey stood not too far from them. Fleur and Clarissa both looked to her and she smiled. "I just want to check that you are alright." She then led them into the medical tent, where their eyes met the sight of the unconscious Cedric.

Half of his face were covered with bandages, one arms wrapped in them as well as a large area of his torso. "What 'appended to 'im?" Fleur asked. Pomfrey wasn't sure what she meant at first, but when she lifted her eyes to see what they were looking at her expression changed to one of sadness.

"He was burned when he tried to get the egg, he was doing well too. Turned a rock into a dog to distract the dragon, but it caught him unawares as he tried to grab the egg at the last moment." She informed the two French students.

Both of them looked at Cedric for a moment before Madam Pomfrey gave Fleur the once over to make sure that she was unharmed, although Fleur had told her that she was fine before she began the check.

"It seems you're alright, aside from the low amount of magic you have left after using the sleeping spell" Madam Pomfrey informed. "You can go and watch the rest of the trial. But I want you to come to me if you feel sudden spells of tiredness or anything that seems of concern."

Fleur gave her word and then left with her best friend, hoping to see the trial of Krum and Harry.

They went into the stands and took their seats as they watched Krum finish his trial, the dragon had been stomping around blindly, probably because it was blind, crushing its own eggs while Krum got the golden egg.

" _That looked like it would've been interesting to watch"_ Clarissa commented as she let out a sigh.

"A fine showing from the champion of Durmstrang Viktor Krum! But last and certainly not least we have yet to see Harry Potter face his dragon, welcome the second champion of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Harry Potter!" Bagman was obviously more enthusiastic at the idea of Harry competing in the trial than when he introduced the others.

Not long after Harry walked through the entrance, his dragon there waiting for him. He looked so small to Fleur as he stood there, in contrast to the massive dragon that he was to fight. It had black scales and its yellow eyes were fixed Harry as it bared its teeth at him, prior to giving a deafening roar. It was covered in spikes that were a similar colour to its bronze horns, the longest of the spines protruding from its tail, a thing it would gladly deploy in combat should the books be believed.

Fleur was surprised that despite the roar, which even rose some fear from her, didn't move Harry at all.

The dragon jumped over a rock and blasted the ground near Harry with its flames, so close that he could feel the heat. He guessed that it was toying with him because of his size. "Expulso!" he pointed his wand and the spell hit the dragon's head, making it move only a little. "Huh, thought that would be stronger, guess I still need to work on it" he said before the dragon fired at him this time.

He was narrowly able to dodge the flames but once again felt their heat. He ran as fast as his legs could take him to the end of the rock face he was on and jumped to another. "Accio Firebolt" he cast, it was too quiet for the crowd to hear, to them it simply looked as though his spell had failed.

The Hungarian Horntail slammed its tail into his side as he was jumping from one rock to another again, it sent him flying across the rocky area and into a wall. It was a harsh landing and he felt the pain in his side and arm as he hit the solid surface. Letting out a groan of pain as he did so.

The beast he was against gave him no chance to recover, but Harry knew he had to move and was able to avoid the slash of its claws barely. Although his clothes were ripped by the tips of the claws.

As Fleur watched she couldn't slow the racing of her heart as she watched Harry being chased, it peaked when he was thrown through the air and when it slashed at him. She felt that her feelings were unreasonable for someone she had barely spoken to, but her thoughts on that never lingered long, she was too focused on wishing that he could escape or win somehow.

Clenching her hands to the seat beneath her she continued to watch.

As fire bathed a rock that Harry hid behind he caught the sight of his broom as it flew toward him, his face gaining a smile as he saw it. Fleur noticed the smile, causing a slight flutter within her.

He jumped as the broom sped past and shot into the air, the dragon roaring after him, flame spewing from its mouth, but not reaching high enough to touch the fourteen-year-old wizard.

"Amazing Harry has summoned his broom to his side! And from what I hear Harry is quite the flier, serving as the seeker for Gryffindor since his first year." Bagman informed.

The dragon tried to pull the chain from the ground to try and follow, its wings flapping as it tried to fly into the air, but it was only able to hover thanks to the enchanted tether that prevented full flight. Harry smiled when he saw the tort chain hold firm.

With swift and fluid movement he changed direction, plummeting back toward the dragon, which had been thrown to the ground by the chain. It recovered and fired at him, fire jetting toward him.

"Non!" Fleur couldn't contain her yell as she watched Harry disappear into the flames, Clarissa caught her reaction but held back her questions as she too was fixed on the fight. Harry had seemingly been killed and in that moment, Fleur felt her heart stop, her hand clutching her chest as it did so.

Then a moment later her heart began again, fluttering as he emerged from under the dragon, having manoeuvred to avoid the flame by a hair.

Swooping over he grabbed the Golden egg and finished his trial, faster than she had. And with his victory a feeling of relief washed over her, as a sigh with the same sentiment escaped her perfect lips.

xXxXxXx

When Harry had made is way to the Gryffindor common room he was faced with a party, there almost every member of Gryffindor was, apart from his brother. Nathan had left when he had seen the broom come to Harry's side, spiteful that he hadn't used his plan he didn't have any interest in seeing how it ended.

Instead he had gone to the library and found a curious book in the library's Restricted Section. One which he took to his room and began reading, after finding it hidden by a notice-me-not charm and placed at the back of a shelf hidden by other books.

It was a book filled with curses or varying types, some involving dark magic, but to him that meant nothing, they were all magic in the end. That was when he decided he would learn all that was hidden within its pages, then he would seek to fulfil whatever he desired.

Placing the book on his bedside table, spine along the wood, he let the pages fall open, watching as he let luck or fate decide what he was going to learn first.

"Hmmm?" he peered at the page that had been revealed, the page was clearly old, he could see that a multitude of notes had been added to it. A spell called _Fiendfyre._ A spell which was a spell of dark magic, advanced and difficult to master if the notes were to be believed.

A knock came from the door. "It's Ron" the voice of his friend came, he gave an agreeing grunt and the red head entered the room. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Escaping the boredom of the party" he lied.

"Well I'm doing to same" he walked over to his bed which was beside Nathan's. "Anything I can help with?"

"Not unless you have knowledge of water-based magic. I'm trying to learn this" he gestured to the book, Ron leaned over to look at the old looking book. He was surprised to see what his friend was looking at but didn't object to it. "First I'll learn this and then every other spell contained within this book. Should be fun, the only problem is that this spell happens to be difficult to control and this will go against what that pathetic old man believes this school to be… I will need somewhere secret to train."

"But the only one is the Chamber, Harry would be able to discover you there" Ron argued.

"Maybe, but I don't see why my idiot of a brother would go there. It would be illogical for him to go there without reason." Nathan replied. He then looked as though he went into deep thought. "Do you think Dean and Seamus can be trusted with this?" he asked.

Ron considered his answer carefully. This was serious. If they were going to start learning dark magic, like he thought they were then if they were found out they would be expelled as a result. He needed to be sure. "We could make them swear an oath to make sure."

Nathan's eyes began to glow at the answer. "You're right, they'll be committed if they swear by their magic." A cruel smile stretched across his face. He would continue to read the book for a while longer at least, making a list of the spells he wanted to learn first, after the Fiendfyre spell of course.

xXxXxXx

Harry slipped from his own party, wanting to be alone for a while. He wondered through the halls and ended up leaving the school grounds, it was night, but he had learned how to avoid being caught during his many nightly escapades.

He eventually found himself drawing near to the lake. But he wasn't there alone. His eyes fell on the silvery blonde hair of a beauty sitting under a tree in the spot that he usual sat in. She didn't realise he was there, he waited for a moment to see if she would, also curious as to what she was doing, but from what he could tell she was just sitting there. He gave a cough to alert her that he was there and a smile, she was surprised when he coughed and almost sprang to her feet. "Arry?" she exclaimed as she did so.

"What are you doing out here? It's past curfew, shouldn't you be in your carriage?" he asked as he approached her and sat beside her, although keeping a distance between them enough that they weren't touching and it wasn't weird, although she did feel slightly disappointed by the distance between them.

"I didn't realise that it 'ad become zo late" she admitted. Then she raised an eyebrow. "Why are you 'ere?" she asked, he gave a slightly nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head.

"I might have skipped out on a party, it was getting exhausting, so I figure I'd go for a walk and I ended up here." He admitted, she gave a small and almost unnoticeable smile.

"I didn't get a chance to congratulate you on your victory" she congratulated him. "I admit that I was surprised." She admitted again.

"You passed the trial too" he said. "You don't need to congratulate me, after all we are supposed to be competing" she eyed him strangely, he caught her gaze. "What?" he asked, curious as to why she was looking at him in such a way.

"You wished me luck before ze trial began, why would you 'elp me? You are zupposed to be my opponent." She asked. It had been tugging at her since he had done so, at the time she was thankful for it because it made her feel better, but she had been wondering two things about that particular encounter. The first, why it had made her feel that way when he had said it, and the second was why he had done it.

"Well…" he ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "I did it because you looked like you were scared… nervous." He corrected the phrasing he used, but she didn't seem to care what word he used.

"Zat shouldn't 'ave mattered. We are zupposed to be trying to beat one another, zat was the whole reason we entered, why would-"

"Did you forget. I never entered" she believed him. She hadn't before, but now, him saying in front of her she couldn't deny that she felt as if he was telling the truth. It was strange, but he felt as though she was a different person around him. It was frustrating, but also freeing in a way as well.

They continued to talk for a while before Harry escorted her back to the carriage. "Zank you for a wonderful night" she thanked him by leaning forward and kissing his check, her own cheeks flushed slightly. She earned a blush that spread across his cheeks quickly in return.

"W-Welcome" he could barely say before she went into the carriage. She stayed on the other side of the door for a moment, her back against it as she recovered. Despite having been the one to kiss him, she was just if not more embarrassed than she was.

xXxXxXx

Nathan woke up very slowly, it was like he still needed to sleep for several hours before he would be ready for the school day. That was exactly what he needed considering he had been compiling a list of magic to learn well in to the night and into the early hours of the morning as well.

Slowly he got ready and left, but rather than going to breakfast he went to the chamber. Once inside he used some of the rocks that were left over from the Tom Riddle Diary incident and transmuted them into a desk and chair. He placed the book on the desk and then started practicing the spell on his own.

He checked a watched several times and when it was the appointed time he reopened the chamber and his three stooges entered. "Whoa" Seamus remarked as they entered the Chamber of Secrets, seeing the carefully created snakes' heads that lined either side of the hall and the massive sculpture of Salazar Slytherin that was at the other end, that and the body of the giant Basilisk.

"I need you to swear" he told them.

Seamus and Dean lifted their wands and from them a light went around them. "I, Dean Thomas, do swear on my magic that I will keep this special training a secret from all people until such a time that Nathan Potter gives me permission to reveal it." He stated, the light faded, the magical contract formed.

"I, Seamus Finnigan, do swear on my magic that I will keep this special training a secret from all people until such a time that Nathan Potter gives me permission to reveal it." He copied the oath that Dean had taken, the same process occurred for him.

Nathan gave a satisfied smile and gestured for them to look at the book.

Seamus chose from the book to learn the Expulso curse, while Dean chose to learn more about transfiguration and wasn't as comfortable as the others in diving into the dark arts, to which Nathan raised an eyebrow.

Ron had brought Nathan some food from breakfast, which he gave to him before joining Seamus.

xXxXxXx

By the end of training Nathan had some control over the spell. He was able to manipulate the fire freely as long as he didn't summon forth too much fire, but he would continue to train, although not for as long. When he emerged from the chamber with the others in tow he was surprisingly caught off guard by Professor Flitwick. "Crap" he moaned.

"Ah, Mister Potter. I finally found you" as opposed to the usually bright attitude of the professor he was then wearing a serious expression. "I missed you in my lesson. As punishment for skipping my class I think it befitting to deduct twenty points from Gryffindor for each of you and you will serve a week of detentions." He then gave a sigh of frustration. "Now come with me, we must discuss this with your head of house."

Nathan cursed as the teacher led him to the office of his head of house.

Meanwhile, Harry was in a DADA lesson. Moody had the mad idea to test their practical skills, putting their duelling skills to a test, and was making his way through the students to see how good they were. He was holding back, of course, but it was enough to beat most of the students, including Neville, who was thrown across the room from a well-placed spell.

"Better Mr Longbottom, unfortunately your shield needs work" Moody informed before looking to his next opponent, Hermione. "Now onto your little girlfriend."

Hermione stepped out with her wand in her hand, she helped Neville from the ground and gave him a light kiss on the cheek before taking up a position. "Begin!" he declared and started firing several attacks at her. He cast no incantations and the spells were not too fierce, but they came in quick succession to test the strength of her shield.

Seeing a brief window, she dropped her shield to return fire, a spell colliding with Moody's own protective barrier, but to little effect, he returned to his original rhythm, quickly catching her off guard.

She was pushed back but still managed to raise the barrier in time, but not too long after her barrier was broken a spell hit her as it did Neville. However, unlike her boyfriend she didn't hit the ground, thanks to Harry catching her.

"Thanks" she thanked him as he helped her to her feet. "Maybe you'll have better luck than me." She said as they stood looking at Moody.

"I doubt it. Sirius told me about this guy, he's supposed to be one of the world's best. I might be able to last a little longer than you, but there's no way we've even begun to see what he's capable of." Harry replied.

"Mr Potter! You next!" Moody ordered.

Harry took up his wand. "Good luck" Hermione wished him before she went to stand with Neville, who also indicated the same with a nod.

Moody and he both moved at the same time, Moody used his to cast a bolt, that Harry matched with his own and they clashed between them. It was obvious that Moody was surprised by the quick casting of Harry, but that didn't remain for long as they started to duel.

"Very good" Moody complimented before increasing the speed of his casting to exceed that of the boys.

"Depulso!" Harry sent a desk flying at Moody, a move which shocked the ex-auror. With it as a distraction he then lit a small fire at his feet with a simple spell while Moody cast a barrier to protect himself from the flying desk.

"Engorgio!" he cast, the flame increased to the point it blocked vision. When Moody dispelled the flames, Harry was gone. He took a step forward and kept his wand up.

"Hiding… clever" he noted. The class was watching with fixed gazes. Hermione couldn't help but smile.

Harry had known that he wasn't as good with magic, but he was cable of moving faster than Moody thanks to his leg, and it was clear Moody would expect him to be as confident in a combat situation, which gave him the chance to blind him for a time.

Harry came out from under a desk behind Moody, but Moody apparently had known where he was and hit him with a much more powerful spell that cracked his defence. "Not clever enough!" he followed through with another which disarmed Harry.

His wand flew from his wand and landed several feet behind. His hand stung a little, but it was his fault, so he ignored the pain.

xXxXxXx

"That was very impressive Harry" Hermione congratulated as they made their way down to have lunch. Harry gave a look of doubt. "Everyone else, including myself, lost a lot quicker than you did." She explained further.

"Maybe, still felt like he was holding back a lot. At the end he used more power, but it was obvious that he had more to give." He turned down the praise. They opened the door to the Great Hall and went inside. He couldn't help but steal a quick glance at Fleur who was already there with her classmates.

"Maybe Harry, but considering we are in our fourth year the fact that you could fight him at all says a lot." Neville added.

"That's only because Sirius has been training me and my brother for years." Harry argued as they sat down. They began eating while Hermione gave a rant about the methods of Mad-Eye. "Say what you want but it does mean we get to try out magic in actual combat, Remus is the only other teacher we've had who let us do that… it was different with him of course, he didn't have us fight one another."

"I know that you like practical work Harry, but what if he takes it a step further, what if he has us fight on another?" she asked.

"Hermione, I seriously doubt things will go that far, he might be a bit… made, but he isn't a Death Eater in disguise." Harry added. Neville gave a grunt that agreed with him as he was eating his food. "If it bothers you that much talk to Professor McGonagall, she can either stop it if she agrees and if not, she can at least get you out of it."

"Fine." She sighed a little, knowing that Harry wasn't going to budge.

After they had done with their lunch they resumed their normal day, at the end of it they went to the library, where they did some reading to find out if they could discover anything on the egg before they returned to their dorms. Harry spent some time looking at the egg, he wondered whether to try opening it again, but he decided against it when he realised that the others in the room were already asleep.

Then he too went to sleep. However, he didn't sleep very well. In the night he received a horrifying dream that saw the death of an old man at the hands of what sound like Voldemort, the familiar green light that he had seen in his dreams many times before, the green light that had been accompanied by the scream of his mother, sent chills through him and woke him.

He toned figure covered in sweat, his breath heavy he looked over to his brother, who looked as though he had suffered through the same, but they only shared a breath glance before pretending as though nothing had happened and going to sleep.

This time he was able to sleep, but it was not as deeply as before, then when he woke he the next day he felt as though he had barely rested at all.

Again, he had a relatively normal school day, but at the end he and the three of his friends met by the lake to test and see if they could find a way to open the egg. "What have you found out so far?" Hermione asked.

"Absolutely nothing, besides the fact it screams whenever I open it." Harry told her. They positioned themselves so that they formed a triangle around it. "Who wants to go first?" he asked.

"Your egg" Neville answered. Harry shrugged and cast a fire spell at it, which was followed by an explosive spell from Hermione, then a simple charm tested by Neville. They tried numerous spells over and over until they were low on magic, they collapsed to their knees wherever they stood and sat for a while. "What is this thing made of?" Neville asked as he threw his head back, lying on the ground to rest further.

"I feel like I need to find a cleverer way to open this… it would make sense that it is more like a puzzle than something we need to break open." Harry argued.

"I'm impressed you noticed. I think it requires something specific and then when you open it instead of the screeching you could be given a clue." Hermione theorised.

"Do you have any ideas?" Harry asked.

"Not yet, but I'll do some reading, if I find anything I'll let you know." Hermione offered, Harry smiled but she couldn't see it because they were also now lying down.

"And I'll see if there is a plant that can help, you might need them in the trial to, so I'll look for things that are interesting and take note of them" Neville added.

"Thanks" Harry replied.

xXxXxXx

The following weekend they were allowed to visit Hogsmeade, Hermione and Harry went down first and were to be joined by Neville when he had finished with an assignment that he had almost completed. "So, what do you want to do first?" Harry asked as they drew close to the town.

Hermione took a moment to consider her answer, figuring out what she wanted to do. "I want to buy some sweets from Honeydukes, we could do that first and then go or a drink in The Three Broomsticks where we promised to meet Neville."

"Sounds good to me, I've run out of snacks to eat anyway, at least I've run out of the good ones." He added.

So that is what they did. They went to the sweet shop and bought everything they wanted, then went to get a drink, finding that Neville was already there. "How did your assignment go?" Hermione asked as he put his arm over her shoulder and walking to a table.

"Professor Sprout thought that it was good. Hopefully I didn't miss anything, I don't think I have with all the extra reading though." Neville explained as they took their seats.

"Good. I know that it's your favourite subject" Hermione said.

"Ah!" Harry covered his eyes as if he was being blinded by something.

"What is it?" Hermione asked with concern. Neville looked the same as she did.

"Turn down the love, its hurting my eyes" he complained with a smile, removing his hands after his joked was completed. Hermione scowled and playfully punched his arm.

"Shut up!" she yelled while Neville blushed. Harry gave a Potter grin and slid to the other side of the bench that he was on so that Hermione couldn't reach him to hit him again. "You're just saying that because you feel like you're being a third wheel."

"Yeah, see that's why I hate that brain of yours" he complained.

"You know Harry, you could always get a girlfriend" Neville suggested.

"Yeah, because it's that easy. I'll just walk into the common room and ask if anyone wants to date me that's sure to get me one" Harry joked.

"You'd have at least one hand go up that I know of for sure." Hermione said, which confused Harry, she noticed and gave a light giggle. "It's slightly adorable and very irritating that you still haven't noticed."

"Okay, who are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"Seriously? Harry, I'm talking about Ginny. She's had a crush on you since she saw you on the train platform, before she even came to the school." Hermione argued.

"She has a school girl's crush, like one you would get in primary school… not that I ever have, but still." He replied. Hermione let out another sigh. "What?"

"I think the fact she has held the crush for years means that it's a little more than a school girl crush as you put it. I even tried to convince her to let it go a few times, she couldn't." Hermione informed.

"But… Ginny's like a little sister to me, thinking of her in that way is just weird." Harry argued. Hermione did understand where he was coming from, after all Ginny held a similar meaning to her. Even though they hated Ron, they were very close with her.

"Alright, if not her who else?" Neville asked. "What kind of girl would you like to date?"

"Alright, this is just getting weird, let's talk about something else." Harry brushed the subject aside.

"Alright, then let's talk about the bad dream you had a few days ago" Neville suggested, Harry glared at him with confusion, not on the subject, but how Neville knew about it. Hermione raised an eyebrow as she looked at Neville then noting his serious tone and expression turned a worried gaze to Harry.

"Crap… I should've stuck with the girlfriend talk." Harry complained.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

"What dream?" Hermione asked, her voice was both forceful, one of the only ways to get information out of the emerald eyed teen, and filled with concern, which she couldn't help but let leak into her voice.

"It was nothing" Harry told her, covering up the truth of the matter, knowing that she would worry too much if he were to tell her everything. Neville gave him a look before speaking up.

"You woke up in a sweat." Neville told honestly, Hermione shot Harry a glare. "I swear you looked like you wanted to scream, and your brother woke up the same at the exact same time." Neville explained further.

"How do you know that?" he questioned. He was sure that everyone had been asleep.

"I was trying to get back to sleep myself when you woke up, your mumbling was making it difficult and when you woke up I knew something was wrong." He remembered how Harry had sprung from his sheets in sync with his brother who had done the same, both covered in sweat and panting. "What was it about?" Hermione looked at him as though she wanted to know the same.

"It was a dream that came from my scar I think, judging by the way it burned." Harry admitted. "I saw… some old man getting killed by what I think was Voldemort" Neville chilled at the name, but Hermione did not. "It was strange, like all the dreams I'd had like that before. It was… as if I was there, like it was happening."

"I think you should talk to Dumbledore, and message Sirius, he will want to know about it" Hermione said but Harry let out a sigh.

"I might have been important or just a dream, I don't want to bother Dumbledore." He let out another sigh. "I will message serious though, I'll send him a letter after my drink."

"You need to tell the headmaster, it is better that he is aware." Hermione objected to his decision. "When your scar burns it always has something to do with Vold-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" she hesitated to say the name around Neville as he was still afraid of it.

"I'll check with Nathan before I involve him." He took a sip of his drink, noting that the other two had almost finished theirs whereas he had barely started his own. "It will probably take me a while to get Nathan to talk though, he seems to be getting worse ever since this tournament started."

"He's probably envious that you are in it and he isn't, you know he's always been like that. He wants everything; and wants to be better than you." Hermione said.

"I wonder what he'll do?" he said thoughtfully.

"Harry?"

"Nathan has a bad habit of acting rashly, pushing things further than he should. He might do something dangerous if he feels that way for much longer." Harry explained to Neville.

After the heavy topics they took to discussing ordinary things, school, lessons and assignments, as well as briefly discussing the Yule Ball which Neville informed them of thanks to his grandmother knowing of the tradition. Fearing that they would revisit the discussion of girlfriends Harry excused himself to send a letter to Sirius.

Neville wanted to send a letter of his own but remained with Hermione for another drink first. _Man, I love those two, but they are driving me mad… maybe I should find someone to date and then I can stop being a third wheel to them all the time_ he thought as he walked back to the castle, ignoring the cold weather as he did.

It hadn't yet begun to snow, but it would soon enough. There was an ever-present chill more so than usual and every morning there was ice on the ground. He could feel the cold more so now that he was on his own walking to the castle.

"Arry?" the familiar voice of the angelic creature that was Fleur Delacour greeted him as he entered the castle.

"Fleur? What are you doing here?" he asked when he turned to see the beauty. _Damn she's hot…_ he quickly tried to bury the thought.

"I was on my way to ze carriage, 'ow about you?" she asked, she seemed disappointed with his response to seeing her, but he paid it little mind.

"On my way back from Hogsmeade, I had to leave the love birds to it." He said with a smile.

"Oh, who are these love birds you speak of?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Hermione and Neville, I can't help but feel like a third wheel when I'm there. Don't get me wrong I love them both, they're like family after all, but it still feels really awkward" he admitted to her. He offered to escort her to her carriage, she agreed, they started to walk toward it.

"I'm sure zey don't mind" she assured him.

"Still…" he gave a sigh. "Anyway, enough of that heavy stuff. What about you? Anything new in your life?" he asked, gaining a more cheerful tone.

"Nothing, I aven't worked out how to open ze egg yet either" she admitted, although was confused as to why she was telling him her progress in the tournament. He gave a laugh. "What?" she asked, slightly perturbed by his reaction.

"I haven't either. I used every spell of that I could think on it and not even a scratch, even with me, Hermione and Neville still nothing" he admitted. She smiled.

When they got to her carriage they were both in a good mood. "Thank you for escorting me to ze carriage Arry" she thanked and give him a soft kiss on the cheek.

He touched his hand to his cheek involuntarily after the kiss, a sight that caused her heart to flutter a little. He lowered his hand quickly, realising what he was doing and blushed from embarrassment. "I-It was my pleasure" he replied, but he should've waited longer as his voice faltered slightly due to his embarrassment.

"I will see you at dinner?" she smiled. Her heart was still beating quickly, but his blush had given her something to take her mind off of it.

"Definitely" he responded quickly with more confidence. She gave a warm smile in response. "Hey, Fleur…" he started as she turned to go inside the carriage.

"Oui?" she turned back to look at him, having only made it halfway through the door.

"I was wondering… uh… never mind" to say she was disappointed would be an understatement but she had no idea why. It was frustrating to know that the usual control that she had was failing, not externally, but within her own mind, her own feelings.

xXxXxXx

It had been some time since he had had a dream that was surely connected to Voldemort somehow, but he was more concentrated on his more immediate problems. His number one worry was that he hadn't yet been able to get into the egg, all it did was scream at him whenever he opened it, and he was running out of ideas. The second problem was the Yule Ball, in which he was meant to have a date to dance before the others as one of the champions, but he wasn't keen on going at all, so it was hard to get excited about it.

Neville and Hermione had been trying their best to help him but there was nothing on the egg. There was nothing written about it, so they weren't able to do anything. It was getting cold. Very cold. And it was colder by the large lake that Harry used to spend his time in, while Neville was standing with his trousers rolled up in the water looking for a plant that was supposed to grow there and he wanted for his own thing. Harry didn't know too much about it considering Herbology wasn't his thing.

"How are things with you and Hermione?" Harry asked as he lifted his head from an old book that Sirius had given to him before the school year had begun, after the whole situation with the World Cup he became more involved with the two Potters, although Nathan was less accepting of that help for Merlin knows what reason.

"I think everything is okay, I think we passed the whole honeymoon stage though" he said with a hint of disappointment.

"What do you mean?" Harry was a little confused, he hadn't noticed a change.

"At the start it was all plus, but its hit home that we have to share everything now, problems included." He said, Harry didn't cut in, feeling that there was more for Neville to say. And he was right as Neville then continued. "I never realised how tough everything was for her… being the house genius means that she always has some kind of issue and I don't know what I can tell her to make it better, which last night turned into an argument."

"How often are the two of you arguing?"

"I wouldn't say arguing, last night was definitely an argument, but it all starts as her venting and me listening, it only became an argument when I couldn't help, and she thought that I didn't care." He continued.

"I'm not sure how to help, I haven't had a girlfriend, but if you think of anything that I can do let me know and I'd be happy to."

"Alright." He sighed. "Got anything?" he asked a minute later.

"Not really, I have one new spell to try though." He said as he stood up, placing the egg on the ground he then chanted in Latin. A stream of energy was fired from his wand, intangible energy that seemed to pass into the egg.

"WHOA!" they both said as the egg shot from the ground and into the water. "Crap, now I have to swim" Harry complained as he stripped down to his underwear. Neville took his clothes, stopping Harry from putting them on the ground.

They hadn't noticed that several other students were nearby and had noticed when he stripped. The girls seemed to approve of his slender, yet muscular appearance. He wasn't overly muscular but considering his training regime and strenuous life it wasn't a surprise that he had built up some muscle.

He dove into the water and searched for the egg. He surfaced after about thirty seconds, taking a deep breath before diving back into the water. He couldn't summon it, so he took several minutes of diving to find it.

When he pulled it from the rock it opened, but to his surprise there was no screeching sound.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,  
We cannot sing above the ground,  
And while you're searching, ponder this;  
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,  
An hour long you'll have to look,  
And recover what we took,  
But past an hour — the prospect's black,  
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

The egg sung, a beautiful sound as opposed to the harsh screeching that he had before. Harry's mouth broke into a smile as he closed it and sprung from the water. "Neville!" he cried out, then the adrenalin faded, he was hit by a wave of cold.

Quickly he ran to the shore and Neville made several complicated movements of his wand before Harry was hit by a wave of heated air, warm enough for him to dry within two dozen seconds, like he had been dried thoroughly by a towel. "Thanks" he thanked Neville, who gave him a smile.

"Don't mention it. What were you so excited about?" he asked.

"I opened the egg."

"Are you ears alright? Was that the-"

"No. No, I actually heard the clue" Neville was shocked. Harry put his clothes back on and they raced as quickly as they could to tell Hermione who would be able to solve the clue… hopefully.

xXxXxXx

That night at dinner Harry and Neville were eating, but Hermione had elected to stare at the paper that she had written the clue down on. They had each made a copy, they couldn't be expected to memorise it… well Hermione could, but Harry and Neville had tried and failed.

"I think you will have to compete with the merpeople, this is definitely their language, I can't believe I didn't see it before." She ridiculed herself for missing it. Neville rested a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner.

"You couldn't have known." He comforted her, she gave him a weak smile in reply.

"Thanks, but this means that the next task will be underwater. If that is true, then we need to find a way to make it so that you can breathe for an hour. But I don't know any spells that can do that."

"We have time to look, it should be in February, so we have time to look." Hermione tucked the paper into her robes. Then she started to eat the food that was spread on the table.

"Have you had any thought about who you're taking to the ball?" Neville asked.

Harry gave a sigh. "I wanted to ask Chang, but I heard that Cedric asked her. There's no one else that I'm interested in" his eyes drifted to the table behind theirs to look at Fleur for a moment. "Well, at least no one that I have a shot with."

"You do know that there is Ginny Weasley and several other girls that would gladly go with you, right? I'm sure there would be even more that would go with you if you were to just use the Potter thing to do it." Neville explained further.

"I'm not going to be Nathan" Harry retorted. "But other than Ginny who is there?"

"You could always ask a Beauxbatons student" Hermione re-entered the conversation. "Most of the students here are afraid to."

"You… make an excellent point, I'll try it." Harry then spotted Cedric. "Be right back." He said as he sprung from his seat and walked over to where he saw him sitting. Hermione and Neville both confused.

"Harry?" Cedric enquired as the younger boy sat down. Cedric was sitting with the french students, he hadn't taken notice but one of them was Fleur.

"I was wondering have you figured out the egg yet?" Harry asked.

"No, not yet. I've tried everything I could think of. All the spells I know, even if they didn't make sense." He explained. He then noticed the smile on Harry's face. "Wait" he leaned in close so that no one aside from their table could hear. "Do you know?"

Harry nodded. Before he could speak Cedric cut him off. "No, Harry you can't tell me. You already tipped me off about the dragons. Besides, you're the first one to work it out so you should take advantage of the advantage."

"Would you complain if I wrote it down and just happened to drop the paper in front of you?"

"Yes."

"Shame. But when we're closing in on the deadline I'm going to tell you." Harry admitted. He smiled.

"Who am I to argue with the basilisk slayer" Cedric joked. "But, when did you work it out?"

"Earlier today and it was a complete accident." He said humbly. "To be honest the thought never occurred to do what it took" he said before walking off, briefly catching a glimpse of Fleur, she had moved from her earlier seat and that is why he hadn't known she was there. A smile broke on his face as he saw her and gave her a wink.

xXxXxXx

Fleur watched as Harry left, broken from her thoughts by the voice of her friend. "Are you going to ask him or not?" she said.

"What? Who?" Fleur replied, both of them speaking in French, the students around them had no idea what they were talking about.

"Oh no one special, at least not to me" she brushed it off innocently, then she fixed her gaze on Fleur like she was trying to force her way into her mind "you on the other hand can't even stop from staring at him for two minutes. Seriously Fleur, I've known you a long time, whenever a guy asks you out or even tries to touch you everything gets really cold, at least your expression does. To be honest things physically heat up thanks to that fire of yours. It's like you're going to kill the guy, but with Harry you even kissed him on the cheek, something I've only ever seen you do to be polite and even if you do it, you don't end up leaning against a door after with cheeks so red you might as well have been a tomato."

"I do not like him like that! Friends maybe, but he's three years younger than me." Fleur protested, although even she could her the doubt in her own voice and the hesitance to even say the words.

"Right? And Merlin wasn't the greatest wizard." She sighed. "You do know that three years is only a big deal in school right? A lot of couples have gaps even larger between their ages and they are seen as perfectly alright. I don't see why that should effect you asking him out now."

"Next year I'll be out of school, if we stayed together that long then it would become very difficult and that's on top of the distance thing."

"Where does he live?"

"Not sure, why?"

"He might be able to come and stay with you. If that happened it would be fine, besides isn't he Lord Potter?"

"No, Nathan is the older of the two I'm pretty sure." Fleur replied with a slightly disappointed expression.

"That one is the future head of their house?!" she was definitely shocked. "I feel like it will collapse, or become like that blonde boy's… Malroy… no wait, that doesn't sound right… Malfoy right?" Fleur nodded, both in reply to her question and the statement. "Although I'm sure Nathan would approve of being connected to the Delacour family if you two ever wanted to tie the knot."

"Wow, slow down! I don't even know how I feel about him yet. Stop getting over enthusiastic."

"Well you might want to think fast if you want him as your date. Harry Potter is pretty famous and you don't want someone else to get to him first" she gave a smile to her friend before going back to her meal. Fleur didn't, at least not right away, she watched as Harry and his friends left, deep in thought as to what she was going to do.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Sorry this isn't as long as before. I hit a really bad block on this story and am cutting down the size so that I can hopefully get past that by writing slightly ahead of what I post, that way if I do stop there is some leeway so that I can get past it before running out of content. Let me know what you think in a review if you have the time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It was the day of the Yule Ball, Christmas, and Harry had woken up to an excited Neville. They went downstairs before anyone else and looked through the presents they had been given, Harry didn't get anything too large, the usual gifts including the jumper with a dragon on the chest that was knitted by Mrs Weasley.

When Nathan and his group came down they left, Nathan and Harry sharing a look that hid the violent intent behind Nathan's eyes.

Nathan had been rejected by Fleur the day before, wanting to take her to the dance and Harry had made the mistake of laughing at his brother. Nathan was changing, even more so than before he seemed to think highly of himself and his internal anger was almost visible.

"I need to do something about him" Harry said as he and Neville walked to have breakfast. They didn't have school so that were dressed in normal clothes. "He's only going to get worse."

"You mean Nathan?" Neville inquired.

"Yeah" Harry let out a sigh. "He needs to learn he isn't as good as he thinks he is, but I'm not sure how to do that other than to fight him. Something I'd like to avoid considering I have no idea who would win between the two of us."

"I've never seen him fight before. What is it like?" Neville asked.

"A lot like me, but that's to be expected considering we have the same teachers, Sirius taught me a little more when we were younger and Remus for him, which is probably why there is a slight variation, that as well as us being different." He pushed on the door to the Great hall and they entered, very few people were there. "Nathan is more violent when he fights and is very much an offensive type."

"Aren't you offensive too?"

"Kind of, but not as much as him. I prefer to have a balance between offence and defence, Nathan would prefer to have all the control in a battle and end it as quickly as he can." They took their seats. "What about you?"

"What about me what?" Neville asked, a little confused as to what the question was.

"Can you fight?"

"Well, not really. My magic took a while to show up so I never had all that prior training stuff that you and Nathan had."

"Most kids probably feel the same way. Maybe we should make a club to help practice or skills."

"That's a great idea!"

"Yeah, but there is one problem."

"Which is?"

"Where would we have it? And who would join?" he gave a sigh. "Not many people will want to be taught by a kid, they think the lessons are enough."

"True, but it might be better to start it next year anyway, it will give us time to set everything up and find members. Also, the whole tournament will be too distracting."

"We should also think about who else could help teach. After all, I'm not exactly the best when it comes to my range of spells."

xXxXxXx

The ball was exciting to begin with, but as the night dragged on the event was just a drag. His partner and he danced for a while, over an hour but she had to go help her friend who was experiencing some kind of issue with her friend, which left him alone.

Harry got a drink first. He felt pretty lonely, but he didn't want to drag Neville and Hermione away from their dance on his account. He ended up leaving the hall and walking outside the castle. He looked around before he addressed the eyes that were on him.

"Nathan what do you want?"

Nathan jumped out from behind a tree. Harry noted that his wand was in his hand. "Can't I just check in on my brother?"

"Yes, but you don't do that." Harry replied. "What do you want?" his eyes narrowed as he moved a hand behind him and grasped his wand. Nathan noticed and put his wand away.

"Relax, I don't want to fight you right now. Just wanted to ask you a question."

"Which is?"

"The second task. That golden egg or whatever. Have you figured it out yet?"

"Yeah."

"I'm ever so slightly impressed. Barely though." He walked over to his brother so they looked like they were having a conversation from the distance. "Do yourself a favour and don't tell the others, you need the edge. Don't be an embarrassment to our name."

Harry but his tongue before he could retaliate to the comment, although he wanted nothing more than to hit his brother. Nathan then left without saying anything else.

Harry remained for a while, sitting on his own before he decided to return to the ball. He was still cooking up ideas of how to deal with his brother until he entered the room.

Moving to a seating area he dropped into the comfort of the cushioned chair.

He watched the dance floor, his eyes drifting to the silvery blonde that was dancing with an older Ravenclaw. He couldn't help but feel his chest tighten slightly in jealousy, but he relaxed a little when he noticed the bored expression on her face.

He like the other boys all looked as though they were drooling over her appearance, he felt sorry for her. It wasn't the same, but he could relate to that attention and he wanted her to save her from it. Swallowing his fear he walked over to the couple as a song ended. They had stopped with the music so it was the best time to do it.

"Excuse me Roger" Harry interrupted the weak conversation they were having. They both looked at him, as did several of the others there.

"What is it Harry?" he said with some hostility, Fleur scowled at the response provided.

"I was wondering if I could have this dance?" Harry asked.

Fleur didn't give Roger a chance to reply and instead broke from him, then she offered her hand to Harry who took it and kissed the back of her hand gently. "It would be my pleasure Arry" she said as he did so. Roger's scowl was easy to see but Fleur didn't care, it was only because of her allure and she was too excited to dance with Harry.

In her opinion it was so much better to be with Harry, he wasn't exactly confident at dancing but it was good, he at least looked like he knew what he was doing, at least if you weren't as close as she was. It made her smile that he was willing to try so hard though.

She didn't know why, but just being around him made her happy, it also brought an image to her mind of when she had kissed him and blushed after he walked her home, it made her a little embarrassed, but that faded when she looked into his emerald eyes.

Even though he only asked for one dance Fleur insisted on several of them, and by the time she was happy to let him go… well not happy, but as close as she was going to get. The ball was over. Roger grunted at Harry in a way that gave him a foreboding feeling.

"Zank you Arry" Fleur thanked him as they left the room, arms linked.

"It's fine. I could tell that you didn't want to be there… but, I was wondering why you even took him if you knew he'd be like that?"

"I was set up with 'im last minute, I 'ad 'oped zat 'e could at least resist slightly, but zat wasn't ze case." She informed him.

"Well, I'm glad I could help" he said. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before they parted ways.

"On a scale of one to ten how bad did you want that to be on his lips?" her friend teased. Fleur had been unaware that she had been there until she had spoken.

"High."

"What about the number, I want specifics here Fleur" she pleaded, but Fleur paid it no mind and ignored the whining teen.

xXxXxXx

Nathan had just finished his nightly training session, walking out with a sweat he headed to the common room and then to the shower where he washed. He got several strange looks, no doubt wondering why he looked so tired, but it didn't matter. He didn't care.

The others had followed him and took showers after he had. It had been some weeks since the ball and he was still bitter over his rejection. "I can't believe she turned me down, but decided that she would dance with him of all people" he said as he changed into fresh clothes, a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

Dropping onto his bed he lay a towel on his pillow to protect it from his still slightly wet hair. "Quidditch seeker, basilisk slayer and now the Hogwarts' second champion. I'm done with him." Nathan said.

"You were even nice enough to help him out" Ron added.

"Exactly!" Nathan gritted his teeth. "Don't worry, I think it's time we taught him and his following what true power was don't you?" he asked wickedly. Ron and Seamus seemed to agree, but Dean had a lot of hesitation and even though he said the words he knew one thing. He wanted out.

The next day their first lesson was defence against the dark arts. They were each given the task of creating group projects, split into groups of three. Hermione went with a group of girls so Dean pounced on the opportunity to help Harry and Neville, who were very cautious about him being in their group.

The project was pretty simple. Improve and write about their fighting techniques, they were given until next term to complete it due to the depth of the write up. Moody was probably trying to learn about how they each fought while sharpening their skills. Smart.

Next they had potions. A class which Harry was paired not with his normally friends but with Daphne Greengrass.

He assumed that she was going to be like the other Slytherins, but to his surprise she was actually a nice person. "I don't get why you go along with him" Harry said as they worked on their potion, glancing to Malfoy.

"I could say the same about your brother." She retorted.

"My brother has a very small following of people, he might be getting worse but he still isn't like Malfoy… yet."

"I guess that's true." She sighed as she cut up a strange looking ingredient and dropped it into the orange mixture. "Malfoy uses his family's power to get whatever he wants. No family in our house can stand up to him and even Snape favours him over us. We have to do it."

"Isn't your family also elite?" he asked.

"True, but we aren't as powerful as the Malefoy's. If we went head to head we'd lose."

"If there were more than one of you it would work."

"True, but as far as I know I'm the only one that thinks that way and it would make things difficult for my sister too."

"You're the only one in the whole of Slytherin?" he asked with a little doubt.

"No, there are others but I'm the only one that I know of in our year. My sister feels the same as I do and wants to do something about it, but we can't" she said as if she was disappointed in herself for not being capable, but it wasn't like she could instantly improve her families status to beat Malfoy.

"If you ever want to escape it all let me know, I'd be happy to help." He offered, he received a grateful smile in return.

"Thank you, I might just take you up on that at some point." She wanted to change the subject. "Tell me, what about your family?"

"Well, Nathan was born a little over nine months before me so he is the eldest in the family. After our parents died Sirius took us in and Remus also helped to raise us."

"Remus? As in Professor Lupin?"

"Yeah."

"To be fair you did seem pretty close with him." She stated to justify his claim.

"Yeah, well that is because he is like our uncle. We learned a lot from them from the moment we used accidental magic for the first time. We learned probably more than we should to be honest."

"Hence why you're more advanced in magic than most people in our year" she muttered, not meaning for him to hear, but he did and a smile appeared on his face.

"My brother started talking to this picture, Sirius' mother and because of that he picked up some of her opinions when we were young. I think that's why he is so different." He thought back to the screaming painting that always objected to them being in the house. "He isn't a purist though. After all we aren't purebloods so he would be hypocritical if he did believe in any of it… sort of like Tommy."

"Who?"

"Tom Riddle, the real name of Voldemort" she shuddered at the mention of his name. He rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Relax, he isn't here to hurt you and even if he was using his name wouldn't be his reason to kill you or anyone, he'd just do it for the fun." She gulped at the news.

"Aren't you afraid of him… you know… after he took your parents?"

"No." he said without hesitation. "I don't think I should be, no one should be." She looked at him like he was mad, but as he continued his words made more sense. "Tom is going to kill everyone that won't give in to him whether they use his name or not" he let out a sigh. "Being afraid will change nothing, so there's no point being it. I'm going to enjoy my life and won't let the possible threat of Voldemort stop me."

He decided not to mention the fact that he was having repeated dreams caused by his scar, which he was convinced was more than that, after all, what else but something magical could explain why he and his brother were experiencing the same, there had to be some connection, and if he was to guess it would probably lie in the dark aspects of magic as opposed to the light and he needed to learn about it.

 **Author's Note: Next chapter is the second task. Please leave a review if you have the time. Daphne isn't going to be a romantic interest, she will be a friend in his eyes.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

It was the 24th February and the morning of the second trial. It was cold, still like winter, but not cold enough for snow to fall, luckily that was to their benefit. There was however some left over on the ground from the snow just a few days prior.

Hermione was nowhere to be seen that morning, but they, being Harry, Neville and Dean wanted to get some practice in for their project before he had to go. It helped Harry to relieve some of his stress.

Dean was standing on a slightly elevated mound, Neville standing by with a pad of paper and a pen to take notes. Harry was standing apart from Dean, both of whom had their wands at the ready.

"Go!" Neville announced.

Dean moved his wand but Harry was faster and cast several blue sparks at Dean. Dean was forced to didge the attacks. He noted that Harry wasn't chanting anything for them. Dean moved away as quickly as he could and raised a shield to defend.

"You're better than I expected" Harry complemented. Dean smiled.

Dean ducked behind a tree and yelled "Stupefy!" which sent the red energy at Harry.

The spell crashed as it hit Harry's shield, rippling along the blue barrier. Harry barely moved from the spot, he could summon shields to defend from anything that Dean threw his way. Without much effort the fight ended quickly, Harry the victor and Dean on his back.

"You did well" Harry offered his hand and once taken he lifted Dean up.

"Were you and your brother made to fight? You are both way too good at this stuff" he commented.

"We have been trained since we were young" Harry justified his statement with a smile. "Neville, you want a shot?" Harry asked. "If you want I'll take the notes and you can spar?" Neville nodded and he and Harry switched places.

Their sparring session was much more balanced, ending with a victory for Dean. Harry took notes and gave a description of the fight, as well as noting the spells used and what he thought their level of mastery was as extra notation.

Dobby delivered something that Harry had asked for prior to the start of the trail, and when the cannon was fired he swallowed it and threw himself into the water. It was cold at first and he couldn't breathe, but both of those things changed when he mutated as a result of the Gillyweed.

xXxXxXx

Fleur was nervous while she waited to dive it the freezing water of the Black Lake. She was shaking just from the cold as she stood there in her swimsuit. She had cast a few warming charms on herself, but it still wasn't enough. Harry was late, but he arrived before the speeches started. He was carrying something which he quickly hid with a firmly closed hand.

She wondered what it was that he was trying to hide, she was sure that everyone else was unaware, she was the only one that was watching him with so much attention to detail. Was it something to help him? She was sure that he wasn't going to use the Bubble-Head Charm because he wouldn't've learned it yet.

She could use her own mastery of the spell and use it for him, but that would be betraying her school, was that really what she wanted.

As they prepared, Dumbledore giving his speech, while she and Cedric cast the same charm, Krum used a much more interesting method, when the cannon was fired the task began, all four of them jumped into the water and readied to search for what they had lost, what had been taken from them.

Krum partially transfigured himself so that he could swim as a shark would, his features changing to be more animalistic. He rocketed off faster than any human could swim. Cedric seemed to pick a direction and random and began to swim, but she knew better, he definitely had a plan.

She herself swam away, she turned back though before leaving to check on Harry, he was rolling around, struggling, like he was fighting some kind of pain. She moved to swim to his side, to help, somehow, until he stopped, she watched from a distance as gills appeared on his neck, his fingers stretched and became webbed, the same as his feet.

 _What was it that he ate?_ She asked herself, assuming correctly that he had eaten whatever he had brought to make up for the lack of knowledge of spells.

She would've sighed if she wasn't underwater, but the stress in her body faded when she saw him examine himself, then swimming away at a speed similar to Krum, although somewhat slower.

She began her own search. She wasn't sure how much time past as she tried to find what was taken from her, but she eventually found herself in an endless field of reeds, pushing them aside she followed her wand, which was pointed to the location of whatever it was that was stolen from her.

Suddenly, she felt something move past her, too fast to see, she turned but didn't see it. Again, something passed her this time scratching her arm, actually it was more than a scratch, the blood that came from the wound flowed into the water and she had to grip it quickly before more blood flowed.

What happened next was a blur. Grindylow after grindylow grabbed her, pulling her in every direction, until everything went dark.

xXxXxXx

" _W-What is going one?!"_ Fleur said in French as she woke up in a panic. She wasn't in the water, she was on the river bank, a towel wrapped around her and the woman that she recognised as the healer that worked for Hogwarts nearby. Madame Maxime was also there along with another of the students.

" _I'm sorry Fleur but you were removed from the task when you were attacked by the grindylows"_ Madame Maxime informed her in French.

The healer then came over and scanned her with her wand. "I'm just making sure that you haven't been to hurt dear." She said, her voice kind and slightly soothing. She had a thoughtful expression when she was scanning Fleur and Fleur ignored it as much as she could, looking out at the water with fear, she had at some point worked it out. It was her sister that had been taken, and now her younger sister, the most important person in the world to her, trapped with no one to rescue her and the massive guilt.

" _Fleur, don't worry, your sister will be safe."_ Madame Maxime assured her. When the healer was done she took Fleur to the rest of the students and they waited for the trial, but despite the comfort her headmistress had provided she was still focused on her sister.

She waited and waited and waited, Cedric came to the surface of the water with Cho in his arms, followed quickly by Krum with his friend, someone that she didn't recognise, they took the people they saved to the structure that the students and faculty were on, the same one that she was waiting on.

She kept waiting until…

Two bodies drifted to the surface of the water, one was the girl that she had seen with Harry, while the other was her sister. She was safe. But a question remained. How? The brunette started to swim with Gabrielle to the ladder that would get them out of the freezing water.

"Where's Harry?" she heard a student whisper, followed by several others that were aligned with the first. She raced to her sister and they had a teary reunion.

xXxXxXx

Despite the whole school having gathered to watch the task there were three missing. Nathan and his two top cronies, Ron and Seamus, they were aware that Dean had to work on the project with Harry, so they weren't suspicious of him, yet.

They had finished their training for the day, but Nathan was working on something else. Magical oaths wouldn't last forever, he needed another more effective way to keep his _friends_ loyal to him.

One night when he was thinking about it he remembered the dark mark that was used by Death Eaters, if he could make his own version then he could guarantee that they would remain loyal no matter what, it would be even better if he could incorporate some way to communicate then it would only improve the benefits of it.

He found whatever books he could, even ordering some before the Yule ball and when they arrived he studied them carefully.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ron asked. They were both in the forest, hiding from any unwanted eyes that might try to stop them or report them. "I mean, I agree that we need to do this, but it might be better to wait until we can go home and do it without Dumbledore around."

"I'm not afraid of some old relic. Dumbledore doesn't matter." Nathan rejected the idea. "But are you sure you want in?" he asked with fake concern. Ron gave a nod with an expression that reflected that he was committed.

"Alright then, time to do this." He drew his wand and Ron held out his arm, rolling the sleeve up so that it was presented to Nathan. Nathan pressed the wand to the skin and from the tip, as he began to chant an incantation, a black substance flowed from it and into Ron's skin.

As the process was being fulfilled Ron felt like his skin was burning. He writhed in agony, wanting to collapse to his knees, Nathan held his arm firmly with his other hand, making sure that he could complete the process.

It was a strange sensation to give the marl, he could feel it being made. He could feel it being completed as the mark stretched over his skin to form the desired shape. A black lion's head with red eyes, that seemed to move as it was looked at by the both of them.

Ron was sweating, panting from the strain that the mark had put on him. The feeling was like someone dragging pieces of metal through his skin, but there was no damage, no mark, aside from the now tattoo looking magical mark that would forever bind him to Nathan.

"I couldn't work out how we can use them to communicate, but the basic function is there, we can make any changes later. Now that it is there you won't have to face that again." Nathan told him, putting his wand away as he examined the mark.

Seamus, who had been sitting quietly stepped up after a moment of rest, waiting for Ron to recover slightly. "My turn?" he only half asked.

Nathan nodded and repeated the process, although Seamus wasn't as good at handling the pain and almost past out as a result of it. "Well that was… fun. Do we give the mark to Dean next?" Ron asked, rubbing the new addition to his body, feeling no difference to the texture of his skin.

"I'm not sure that is a good idea." Noting the reaction of the other two he continued to explain himself. "Dean has shown that he doesn't want to learn the Dark Arts, he, like most wizards is afraid of them, thinks that they are evil. Like most wizards he is wrong. I don't think he will follow along the path we are going down."

"Then we need to stop him from telling people about the book!"

"We can't do that! He's our friend!" Seamus rejected Ron's idea.

"He might tell everyone what we've been doing! We can't risk that!"

"Why? All we've done is learn a little extra magic!"

"No! We broke the rules! We studied forbidden magic that we were never supposed to find! If they find out we'll be expelled, getting rid of Dean is the only way."

"Get-?" Seamus was cut off by Nathan, who decided that it was time for his intervention.

"We can't even if that was right. Dean is at a point where he is slowly siding with my brother, if he has already become his friend like I suspect then you two won't be able to kill him, Harry can stop you both. I could kill him, but a fight with my brother would expose us, so for now we leave it."

"The stuff we've been learning though?"

"I know Ron, but Harry, if he finds out from Dean, who is also the only person Dean will feel comfortable telling, will want to deal with me privately thanks to his idiotic sense of right and wrong. When he does it will be outside of school and we can deal with him then."

"Then we're staying with you at the end of the year." Ron argued.

"I don't need help to deal with my brother. He is an idiot. A waste of space and undeserving of my name. I will be the one to end him."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews, it has meant a lot to me. I understand that a lot of this story is like the movie, something pointed out by** **Nanettez, but that was because I planned to only make minor changes until Fleur and Harry got together. I also needed to have Nathan learn about the Dark Arts which also needed time which is why he has been dormant for the chapters so far, obviously shown by this chapter he is going to become a larger part of the story for obvious reasons which I'm sure many of you can guess.**


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